Ex-BCGE boss appeals for higher settlement

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Dominique Ducret, the former head of Geneva’s cantonal bank, BCGE, was found innocent of wrongdoing in a case that dates back to the 1990s, and in July he was handed a CHF1.5 million settlement for personal tort (defamation and injury).

Ducret is heading back to court to appeal for a larger sum, reports the Tribune de Genève, taking his case to the Swiss federal high court.

Ducret was one of several people charged in the case covering the debacle cost the canton CHF2 billion. A foundation was created to pay off its debts. Hearings in the case began in 2000 and ended only in 2008: they resulted in 3,700 pages of recorded hearings, 40 binders for general information and 1,500 binders of documents related to the hearings, according to an article Le Temps wrote in 2007 about the lengthy judicial process for the case.

It was one of several cases that led to a revision of federal law, which went into effect in 2010, forcing court cases to take less time and to cost less as a result.